Course detail

Biomechanics III - Cardiovascular

FSI-RBMAcad. year: 2025/2026

The course starts with basic medical information on structure of cardiovascular system. It deals with loads and mechanical properties of its organs and tissues, including blood and its rheological properties. Properties of tissues are analysed in relation to their structure, from layers and fibres to the level of individual cells, their structure and mechanical behaviour. The course further presents most frequent pathologies of cardio-vascular system, especially atherosclerosis and its dependence on mechanical factors. All the gained knowledge is applied in computational models of isolated cell, artery and heart chamber, created in ANSYS software, not only in stress-strain analyses but also in fluid-structure interactions between a tissue and a liquid (blood). 

Further, the course deals with technical fundamentals of therapeutic treatments and man-made replacements used at cardio-vascular system (vascular grafts, arterial stents, artificial heart valves, artificial heart pumps). The course deals with their technical principles, materials, production technology and basic requirements of biocompatibility.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

6

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Entry knowledge

Knowledge of basic terms of theory of elasticity and selected theories in the range of the course 5PP-A (stress, strain, general Hooke's law, membrane theory of shells, thick-wall cylindrical vessel). Description of mechanical properties of materials under large strains using hyperelastic constitutive models including anisotropic ones. Basic properties of Newtonian liquids (viscosity), theory of linear viscoelasticity. Fundamentals of FEM and basic handling of ANSYS system.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

Active participation in seminars, final project and its defence, test of basic theoretical knowledge.
Attendance at practical training is obligatory. An apologized absence can be compensed by individual projects controlled by the tutor.

Aims

The aim of the course is to provide basic general knowledge about properties of tissues in cardiovascular system and analyze in detail impact of their structure on mechanical behaviour. Students should get acquainted with computational models of heart and blood vessels at the level corresponding to the actual state of science and capabilites of the existing software. They also get familiar with treatments and implants applied in the cardio-vascular system and principles of their function and design.
Students will have a clear idea of basic biomechanical problems of cardiovascular system and of the implants used in it. They will be able to model these problems at the actual level of scientific knowledge and of technological equipment.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Ethier, Simmons: Introductory biomechanics. Cambridge University Press, 2007. (EN)
Fung: Biomechanics. Mechanical properties of living tissues.Springer, 1993. (EN)
Holzapfel G.A., Ogden R.W.: Biomechanics of soft tissue in cardiovascular system. Springer 2003. (EN)
Humphrey: Cardiovascular solid mechanics. Cells, Tissues and Organs.Springer, 2002. (EN)

Recommended reading

HOLIBKOVÁ, Alžběta a Stanislav LAICHMAN. Přehled anatomie člověka. 5. vyd. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2010. ISBN 978-80-244-2615-0. (CS)
Křen J., Rosenberg J., Janíček P.: Biomechanika. Vydavatelství ZČU, 1997. (CS)
Trojan S. , Schrieber M.: Atlas biologie člověka. Scientia, 2013 (CS)

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme N-IMB-P Master's

    specialization BIO , 2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Syllabus

1. Introduction, contents of the course, mechanical properties of soft biological tissues and their experimental evaluation.
2. Fundamental medical information on cardiovascular system.
3. Structure and activity of myocardium. Anatomy, histology and physiology of blood vessels.
4. Structure and composition of blood vessel wall,its mechanical components. Composition of blood.

5.Physiology of heart (ECG, Starling's law). Characteristics of flow in arteries.

6. Models of blood behaviour, velocity profiles of non-Newtonean liquids, Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect.
7. Mechanical properties of cells and their computational modelling.
8. Orientation of collagen fibres, their dispersion and waviness..
9. Mechanical influence on atherosclerotic processes, principials of medical treatment of sclerotic arterie. Arterial stents.
10. Vascular grafts (arterial replacements), types, properties, application, production.
11. Natural and artificial heart valves, principles of their function, overview of available products.
12. Ventricular assist devices and total artificial hearts.
13.Possibilities of computational modelling of cardiovascular system

Computer-assisted exercise

13 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Syllabus

1.-2. FE model of left ventricle.
3.-4. FE tensegrity model of animal cell. 
5.-6. FE model of aorta, residual stress.
7.-8. Evaluation of residual stress in arteral wall using volume growth (fictitious temperature) method. 
9.-10. Experiment - pulsatile flow in elastic tube, orientation of collagen fibres, constitutive models of arterial wall.
11.-12.  FSI simulation of blood flow in arteries.
13. Formulation of semester projects.